EBA asks the Parliament and the Government of Ukraine to urgently address 5 key reservation issues

Over the past few months, both the Parliament and the Government of Ukraine have repeatedly amended by-laws that regulate military registration and reservation of conscripts in critical enterprises. Despite some optimism that should come with the practical implementation of the adopted changes, most of them did not undergo public discussion and the business community did not have the opportunity to comment on them and provide their most critical proposals.

Therefore, having analyzed the most frequent requests of the business community on reservation issues, the European Business Association appeals to the Parliament and the Government of Ukraine with a request to urgently solve 5 key problems.

I. Support and promote the fastest possible adoption of the draft law on extending the deadline for updating data to 150 days

According to the latest data from the Ministry of Defense, as of June 25, only 2.3 million conscripts out of approximately 11 million were able to update their military registration data. According to information from representatives of the business community, in the current conditions of lack of electricity and access to the Internet and, accordingly, interruptions in the work of electronic systems, it is very often not possible to update your data through the Reserve+ application or the TCRs, while the throughput of the TCRs and SSs is extremely small. It is already obvious that by July 16, all conscripts will not be able to update the data, including due to the low throughput of the state. Accordingly, increasing the period by another 90 days is a logical step and is fully supported by the business.

II. Launch the eReservation system as soon as possible

Within the framework of the current system of strategic reservation, the process from preparation of documents to receipt of an order for reservation takes an average of 2 months and requires significant administrative resources from both the state and business. In addition, there have been more frequent cases of refusals to book from the authorities without explanation. Accordingly, the EBA calls for the launch of the eReservation system through the resources of the Diia portal as soon as possible, both for critical infrastructure enterprises and for enterprises critical to the national economy, in order to speed up processes and prevent any abuse in the process of agreeing lists.

III. Provide reserved conscripts and those in the process of reservation (from the moment the application is submitted by the enterprise to the registration) 30 days of immunity from mobilization to update data in the TCRs and SSs

The EBA has repeatedly raised the issue of granting conscripts 30 days of immunity from mobilization to update data in the TCRs and SSs, since the uncertainty when going to the TCRs and SSs forces a large number of conscripts to avoid such trips. Accordingly, granting 30 days of immunity will significantly improve the quality and efficiency of military accounting at the national level.

IV. Allow reservation without restrictions on the number of employees in the transport sector who are directly involved in the process of cargo transportation

It is no secret that most cargo transportation within the state, as well as the lion’s share of both import and export operations, are carried out by cargo vehicles. Accordingly, the availability of a sufficient number of people who are ready to go on the route is a guarantee of the economic security of the state. Accordingly, it is important for business and the economy of the country in general to have enough employees,including drivers, so that it is possible to import the necessary products for the population, business, and the army into Ukraine, as well as export goods from Ukraine. In this context, in particular, the business welcomes the decision of the President of Ukraine to instruct the Government to consider the possibility of reservation truck drivers from mobilization.This is stated in the President’s response to the petition.

V. Allow the introduction of economic reservation in the country

Currently, various concepts and models of reservation are being discussed in the public space. And the business is ready, together with authorized representatives of state authorities, to sit down and discuss these models and which of them can be most useful for our state. After all, it is important for business to have the authority to independently determine which employees are critical to the company’s work.

We sincerely hope that the voice of business will be heard and that business and government will be able to reach compromise solutions on the above issues, as they are extremely important for the further functioning of our state!